Winch



Jan. 25, 1927. 1,615,543

w. L. HINGER "WINCH FildFeb. 9. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 INVENTORW/Lu/r/v Z. flm aie.

A ORNEY Jan. 25 1927- w, 1.. HINGER WINCH Filed Feb. 9. 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 2 h In IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIII/IIIIIII/IIII/IIII/IIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIII/ v ca Ill/11111 IIIIIIIIIIL Patented Jan.25, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,615,543 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. HINGER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITE COMPANY, OF

CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF QHIO.

WINCH.

Application flled February 9. 1925. Serial no. 7,799.

5 operating the Winch.-

In order to more eflieiently perform some of the duties imposed'today onthis typeof winch, it has been found necessary to mcrease the speed witha consequent mcrease In in demand on the bearings which were usuallylain cylindrical bushings or bearings and all thrust bearings. Theresults were that these bearings were unsuited for the service andquickly wore out, the bushings l5 flaked off, and the balls were crushedor cut the wear plates necessitating frequent repair and often wreckingthe entire winch. I have also found that Winches of this type could beoperated in only one direction since I 20 the thrust hearings wereadapted to take up only the thrust in a single direction. If, by chance,the direction of the thrust were reversed, the winch would jam andbecome useless. In this type of winch I have found and speeds andexpanded against t e shaft which resulted in a tendency to seize theshaft, slowing up the steel worm and cutting into the bronze worm gear.

An important object of my 1nvent1on,therefore, is the provision of awinch which may be operated at a relatively high speed with-" out dangerof injuring the bearings of theworm drive mechanism. v Another importantob ect 1s to overcome .all the. disadvantages a we noted and to iprovide a winch which will be adapted to Another object of my inventionis the provision of' a winch which. can be easily disassembled.

A further object of my invention -isthe provision of means'for adjustingthe drivi mg worm with respect. to the driven worm .50

ear. I g A further important object of my invention is'to provide aWinch ofthe above character in which the bearings supporting the drivingshaft are removable and interchangeable.

that'the bearings heated up with hi -h loads- 1 transversely of" thechassis.

Another object of my invention is to provide a winch which is strong anddurable,

yet simple of construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparentfromthe following specification. i I In the accompanying drawingsillustrating embodiments of my invention Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofthe winch a truck or other secured to the chassis of vehicle having asource of power;

unit; I Fig. 3 is a central transverse section through the worm unit ofthe winch;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinalsection of the worm unit and and Fig. 5- is adetail of the shouldered pin construction-used in securing'the wearplates;

to their supports. I

In the drawings, the chassis of. a motor vehicle is shown at 5, Fig. 1,and-carries two I-beams 6 which are mounted trans: versely of thechassisand which support the winch assembly. A power take-off is provided at 7which'isconnected to thedriven. shaft of the engine on the vehicle andits speed maybe controlled by a system of transmission gearing withincontrol of the operator. .A sprocket 8 is carried by the takeoff deviceand is connected to sprocket 9 on the winch by means of a driving chain10.

In Figs. .1 and 3 I have shownthe winch and worm unitmounted on theI-beams A winding drum 11, keyed to a shaft 12, which. is' supported bysuitable bearings 13 and 14 near its ends, is adapted to carry a cable15 and Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the winch entire winchconstruction;

sis

rotateswith the shaft on the bearings 13 and 14.

provided a housin l6 formedof upper and lower sections 1 Adjacent oneend of the drum 11-, I'have shaft 12 passes through the housing as shownand carries a hub 20 whiqh'is keyed thereto within the housing. A wormgear 21"i's also keyed to shaft 12 and secured to the hub by a se'riesofbolts 22. v

I The lower section 18 of the "housing is provided with alignedhorizontal openings at each side of the base thereof which communicatewith the interior of the base. I

prefer thattheseopenings be reinforced.

annularly as shown at 23 and 24 and that their inner walls be ofrelatively much greater width than the thickness of the walls of thehousing. This arrangement not only Strengthens the housing, but alsoprovides annular reces's'28-for seating a wear plate 29. A shoulderedpin 30-extends into the wear plate and, the flange 27 to hold the plateagainst rotative movement.

One of the retaining shells is provided with an end cap 31. Bolts 32pass through the end cap and-the wall of the retaining shell and intothe housing. Lock nuts and washers are screwed down on the bolts to holdthe cap in place. Suitable packing 33 may be employedbet-ween the endcap and the shell to prevent leakage of the lubricant carried within thehousing.

A shaft 34 passesaxially through the shells 25 and is rotatablysupported therein by spring rollers'bearings 35 and 36. It will be notedthat I have eliminated-the usual inner races for the rollers which areformedin bearings of this nature, and have rovided in their steadfordirect contact etween the rollers and'the shaft 34. The shaft,therefore, is hardened to form a hard wearing surface for the rollers.As is usual, the rollers are rotatably mounted in rings 37 and 38surrounding shaft 34. The outer races of bearings 35- and 36 are shownat 39 and 40 andare seated snugly within the shells 25, the inner edgeof each race abuttingthe inner walls of each of flanges 27 to limitlongitudinal movement in one direction, while annular spring washers 41and 42' are mountedbetween the corresponding outer races and the endcaps, and exert a tension against the races tending to maintain them intheinnermost portion ofshells 25 when the end caps are inposition.

In this connection, it will be wellto note that I have provided foradjusting the Ion-- gitudinal position of shaft 34 by means of shims S.These shims may be of different thicknesses and are inserted between thehousing and the annular flanges 26 of the shells 25. In this manner Inot only provide adjustment for the shaft 34, but I also provide meansfor compensating for any wear on the contacting surfaces of plates 29,44, 45, 46 and 47. 1

. A worm 43 keyed to the shaft 34 at a point about midway of the ends ofthe shaft and when in position, meshes with the worm gear 21. At eachside of the worm I have provided wearing plates 44 and 45. These platesare secured to the worm in any convenient manner to rotate therewith. Mypreferred mode of securing the plates to the worm is shown in detail inFig. 5 and consists of a pin 76 shouldered at one end and insertedwithin the worm body and the plates, the shouldered end abutting theinner sides of the plates and preventing the pin from extending beyondthe outer surface of said plates.

. It should be noted that I provide wearing plates of a relativelylarger flat wearin surface. This is important since the thrust createdby the meshing of gear 21 and worm 43 under power is more evenlydistributed throughout the plates where there is a larger contactingsurface. The use of ball bearings is unsuitable for this purpose as thethrust exerted on shaft 34 will only be taken up at the point of contactof the balls with the moving worm and the stationary race. When theballs are subjected to an enormous thrust or the device is operated at arelatively high speed they will be crushed. In my device I have providedgreater contacting surface for taking up the thrust which insures a longlife for the bearings and consequently the entire apparatus, and alsomakes it possible to operate the device under great loads, and at higherspeeds than the ordinary winches now in use.

Intermediate each of the fixed plates 29 and the movable plates 44 and45, respectively, I have provided grooved wearing plates 46 and 47,respectively, which are free to rotate in either direction about theshaft 34, and when the winch is in operation these free plates willcreep along with the movable plates at about one-half the speed of themoving plate. This creeping action tends to reduce friction between theplates and consequently reduces the heat generated thereby. The grooves48 are for the purpose of supplying lubricant from the housing to thewearing surfaces between the plates. The lubricant, therefore, not onlyacts as a friction reducer but also serves to cool the plates duringrotation.

End cap 49, which is seated within a recess 50 in one of the shells 25is of slightly different construction than the cap 31 in that it isprovided with a recess 51 for the purpose of seating a packing cover 52.packin 53 preferably metallic is held 1n place aliout shaft 34 withinrecess 51 by the cover 52.

Adjustment of the packing may be made from time to time by tighteningthe .bolts 54 which secure cover 52 and cap 49 in adjustable relation. Asecond series of bolts 55 are provided as in Fig. 2 for securing cap 49to shell and'the housing section 18.

It will be noted that even though I have slightly modified the structureof the end caps 31 and 49, they are interchangeable and the shaft 34 maybe reversed with the sprocket 9 on the opposite side of it if sodesired- It will also be observed that I have pro- -vided the openingsin the housing of such ,tus ismore efficient where the lubricant'isallowed to remain at a level just above the point where the worm andworm gear mesh. This prevents a tendency of the moving parts to churnthe lubricant in the housing and forming a substance which would de-'feat the purpose of the lubricant. From the housing the lubricant hasfree access to the worm and worm gear teeth as well as to the'wear platesurfaces through grooves 48, and thence to'the spring roller bearings.

I have provided drain openings 58 in the bearing retaining shells 25which communi cate with the spaces within the shells containiugthebearings and with the bottom of the housing. A drain 59 is providedin the base of the housing to discharge the oil and dirt. In operation,power is applied through a suitable transmission from the engine of thevehicle to the sprocket 9 and shaft 34 of the winch driving mechanism.Rotation of the shaft will impart motion through the worm 43 and wormgear 21 and thence to the winding drum 11.. As the speed of rotation ofshaft 43 is increased or as the load on the drum is increased, or both,a thrust is exerted in one I direction approximately parallel with shaft34; If the direction of rotation of shaft 34 is reversed the-thrust willbe applied iirthe opposite direction. Therefore, thrust in eitherdirection may be taken up without adjustment ofthe apparatus in anyrespect. Adjustment of the thrust bearings tocompensate for wear may bemade by taking out shims of the proper size between the shell flangesand the housing, and the entire worm shaft and hearing may bedisassembled from the housing by. removing the end caps and one of theshells after which the rest of the assembly is passed out of the openingin the opposite side of the housing.

Various changes may be made in the construction described withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention or the .scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim I 1. Ina winch driving mechanism the combination of, a housing,a worm gear mounted to rotate therein, bearing retaining shells carriedby said housing, said shells being in alignment, roller bearings carriedwithin said shells, a shaft supported by said bearings, a worm keyed tosaid shaft, and thrust bearings comprising a plurality of wear platesdisposed between the worm and each of said roller bearings, certain ofsaid wear plates being carried by said retainin shells. 2. In a winchdriving mechanism t e combination of, a housing, a worm gear mounted torotate therein, bearing retaining shells carried by said housing, saidshells being in alignment, roller bearings carried within said shells, ashaft supported by said bearings, a worm keyed to said shaft, and thrustbearings comprising a lurality of wear plates disposed between t 1e wormand each of said roller bearings, certain of said wear plates beingcarried by said shaft to rotate therewith, plates carried by saidretaining shells, and plates intermediate said first and second namedplates freely rotatable about said shaft andadapted to be engaged on thefaces thereof by said first and second named plates.

3. In a winch driving mechanism, the combination of a housing, a wormgear mounted to rotate therein, bearing retaining shells carried by thehousing, the shells be- I ing; in alignment, roller bearings carriedwithin the shells, a shaft supported by said bearings, a worm geared tosaid shaft, and thrust bearings comprising a plurality of Wear platesdisposed between the worm and each of said roller bearings, certain ofsaid wear plates being carried by said retaining shells, and means forshiftin said shaft and worm assembly axially wit lll'lille housmg.

4. In a winch driving mechanism, the combination of a housing, a wormgear mounted to rotate therein, bearing retaining shells carried 'bysaid housing, "said shells being in alignment, roller bearings carriedwithin said shells, a shaft supported by said bearings, a pinion on oneend of said shaft a worm keyed to said shaft and thrust bear ingsdisposed between the worm and each of said roller bearings, said shaft,shells, and bearing assembly being capable of being reversed within thehousing whereby a driving connection to said shaft through said pinionmay be had from thereversed side of said housing.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 4th day ofFebruary, 1924. WILLIAM L. HINGER.

